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The first robots were crude beings created by humanity to hеlp with a variety of tasks. The earliest of these robots were created at the end of the 29th century. Over the course of the next millennia robots would come to be a part of Earth culture, to the extent that by 3000 academic institutions offered the subject of Robo-American Studies.

Throughout the centuries robots remained "slow moving, stiff, and a little on the uptight side." But on October 17th, 2928Hubert J. Farnsworth, working for MomCorp, discovered that by sacrificing fuel efficiency he could create a "bigger, sportier robot." It didn't meet emission standards, but MomCorp was able to get around this by marketing it as a "Sport Utility Robot" classified as a light truck.

The modern robot is fueled by alcohol and gives off greenhouse gasses primarily through flaming burps, which eventually drove Earth to the brink of destruction via global warming. Though President Nixon and Dr. Wernstrom plotted to destroy all robots to save the planet, the Earth was saved when Farnsworth had all the robots vent their gases straight up at once, thereby moving Earth further from the sun, and cooling it.

In 3004 Mom's Friendly Robot Company released a new model of robot known as Robot 1-X. Unlike earlier models, Robot 1-X doesn’t malfunction and has a more friendly personality. Perhaps in response to the near destruction of Earth by robot-generated greenhouse gases earlier that year, Robot 1-X also ran on pollution and emitted fresh oxygen. The shift to the new model was neither immediate nor easy; many existing robots needed to have their programming upgraded to be compatible with the new model, and the majority of Earth’s robots remain the old, rude, polluting models. Ironically, should Robot 1-X clean up Earth's pollution, the Earth will actually be cooler than it was originally due to the increased distance from the sun. This may help to explain the relative rarity of Robot 1-X's.

Robots all seem to have an antenna someplace on their body, but the reason for this is unclear. They seem to be able to pick up and disrupt radio signals unconsciously, and in some cases even project their thoughts to other radio devices (such as a cellular telephone). Mom revealed that she has all her robots fitted with one so that she can control them using a universal robot controller. Several times it is also stated that it is used as a male reproductive organ.

Robots run on alcohol (apparently ethanol), which recharges their fuel cells. When they don't drink, they suffer symptoms similar to those experienced by organics who have imbibed too much alcohol, such as loss of balance, light-headedness and a thick patch of rust around the mouth, similar to 5 o'clock shadow, but called 5 o'clock rust.

According to Leela, a Robot can be destroyed by hearing a logical paradox, what makes their A.I.'s collapse. On the other hand, the most recent made robots (including the Bending Units) had backups, so their "minds" don't die with their bodies. It is also revealed in The Thief of Baghead that food coloring is the most poisonous substance known to robots, and will kill them almost instantly.

Under certain circumstances (for example a successful suicide attempt, or when the robot's body is buried too close to discarded electronics) a robot's software can be exported to the wireless network shared by all machinery, even if that robot has no back-up unit. In this case, the robot's essence becomes stuck in an "infinite loop" which is inescapable without the intervention of either the Robot Devil or Robot God. When in this state, the robot's essence cannot affect physical matter except for electronic machinery. A device called a "sacramental firewall" however can be used to keep the "robot ghost" from coming closer than 10 feet to it. (It also kills cats.) There is some ambiguity as to whether there are other types of ghosts in the Futurama universe-in The Honking it is stated that the last Ghost had died hundreds of years prior, but in Proposition Infinity it is clear that ghosts are legally recognized entities with the right to marry horses.

Like any society, robots have many vices that certain segments of the population engage in. Examples of such vices include: robot porn, stripperbots, hookerbots, and the smoking of cigars and/or cigarettes (to look cool).

Perhaps the most controversial vice in the robot world is the abuse of electricity. Jacking-on, as it's called, involves the channeling of large amounts of electricity through a robot’s processors, resulting in a psychedelic experience. The experience is highly addictive and may lead to decreased energy levels and/or residual electrical activity in the eyes. The name is a thinly veiled euphemism for masturbation, which can be referred to as "jacking off."

An analog to drugs for robots which is illegal to possess or use. In appearance it is similar to a crack pipe with a plasma globe on the end. Its use has a tendency to cause a robot's eyes to turn red.

One of the more radical robot religions is Robotology, which holds its members to a strict contract not to engage in any behavior considered taboo among the faith (see the Vice section above). Should the contract be broken, the member would be sent to Robot Hell for eternity.
See Also: Robotology

Robots may or may not actually celebrate several holidays of their own, including Robonadon, Robanzaa(which is a sacred tribute to robot ancestral prototypes that takes the form of a drinking contest) and Robonnukah, the most sacred two weeks (or six and a half weeks, or four weeks for a reform-Robonnukah) on the robot calendar which is celebrated with dancing, drinking from a Robo-kiddish cup, the spinning of the Droidel, and wrestling of Fembots with illegal five-speed groins in petroleum oil, which has been used up.

By the standards of humanity, robots tend to be quite active sexually (probably due to the fact that it is primarily for recreation rather than for reproduction), but relationships between humans and robots are severely discouraged, and marriages between the beings were banned on Earth until the passage of Proposition ∞ in 3010. In The Bots and the Bees it is revealed that robots can procreate sexually as a means of making up for the inability of Momcorp to make enough robots via traditional methods.

While robots generally age quite rapidly by human standards (Bender aged in hours for example, another being his son Ben, who ages at 364.2 times faster as a human ), some robots remain children for longer periods of time (such as Tinny Tim). It is unclear why robots would need children besides child actors, but they continue to be built just the same.

Robots have expanded beyond their original programming to fulfill many functions, some of which would not seem to need to be fulfilled (such as homeless robots or criminal units). The following is a short list of different functions or occupation that robots fulfill as well as three or four examples.